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HOUSTON -- By scoring more runs in the regular season than any team in the past eight years, the Houston Astros forged their identity as an offensive dynamo capable of slugging its way into the postseason and possibly even the World Series. But Friday night, they won with two arms -- Dallas Keuchel's left and Marwin Gonzalez's right. Keuchel continued his mastery of the New York Yankees by blanking them for seven innings. Gonzalez provided a big assist with a perfect throw from left field to nail Greg Bird at home plate to end the fifth inning. And in so doing, the Astros proved they can win cuticle-chomping, low-scoring games just as well as wide-open slugfests, taking Game 1 of the American League Championship Series by a 2-1 margin. "It just shows you how good of a team we really are," right fielder Josh Reddick said. "We can win the big games where we're up by a lot, or we're down by a few late, or we're up by one or two late. It just shows this team has every aspect covered."  The Astros scored 896 runs during the season, more than any team since the 2009 Yankees. And they won their division series by bludgeoning Boston Red Sox pitching. They scored early (eight first-inning runs in four games) and often (16 runs in the first two games, 24 runs overall), belting eight home runs and 18 extra-base hits.
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka tested the theory that subduing the Astros' offense meant defeating them. He held Jose Altuve & Co. to four hits, none of which went for extra bases, and forced the Astros to score runs the hard way in the fourth inning. Altuve reached on an infield single, stole second base and scored when Carlos Correa punched a single to left field. Two batters later, Yuli Gurriel lined a two-out RBI single up the middle. And that was it. The team with the biggest boppers -- those sluggin' Stros -- played small ball, then relied on its pitching, defense and even its bullpen to carry it through. "Tanaka was good again. He was able to confuse us and to control the plate," Astros center fielder George Springer said. "If it wasn't for Dallas, who knows?" Indeed, Keuchel reaffirmed that he's nothing short of kryptonite to the Yankees. Two years ago, he punctuated a Cy Young season by tossing six shutout innings in the wild-card game at Yankee Stadium. He gave up one unearned run in six innings against New York earlier this season. And with the Astros needing him to be almost perfect in Game 1, he scattered four hits in seven innings. Using his patented sinker, a pitch that sits in the mid-80s, Keuchel finessed seven outs on the ground. But he also recorded 10 strikeouts, joining notorious hard throwers Mike Scott and Nolan Ryan in the 1986 NLCS as the only pitchers in Astros history to notch a double-digit strikeout game in the postseason. "I mean, we have pretty similar pitching styles, so I would expect myself to be in there," Keuchel said, laughing about his new place in franchise history. "No, I don't know. It's just ... I made a few good pitches and I got lucky on a few. But hey, that's great company to be in. I'll take it." Keuchel was also perfectly happy to accept Gonzalez's help on what turned out to be the play of the game. With two out and the Astros leading by two runs in the fifth inning, slumping Yankees slugger Aaron Judge stroked a single to left field on a full-count pitch. Gonzalez fielded the ball as Bird rounded third base and uncorked an on-target peg to catcher Brian McCann. Bird was clearly out, and after Yankees manager Joe Girardi challenged the play, video replay confirmed the call on the field. "I screamed as loud as I could, like I threw the guy out," Reddick said. "It was a big moment for us. I said to [Springer] that I couldn't believe [Gonzalez] threw it in the first place. I mean, 3-2 count with guys running. Personally, I probably wouldn't have made the throw just for the chance of overthrowing. "Really glad he did. Put it on the money. He made a heck of a play that a lot of guys don't make it." Said Gonzalez: "All I was thinking was to get the ball as fast as I could since I knew [Bird] was on second and I knew that was the only chance to get a chance at home plate." Even the Astros' bullpen -- the team's perceived weakness -- delivered when it was needed. Closer Ken Giles mowed through the heart of the Yankees' order in the eighth inning, getting Judge to ground out and striking out Didi Gregorius with the tying run on first base. Giles gave up a two-out homer to Bird in the ninth inning but closed out a 37-pitch, five-out save by striking out pinch hitter Jacoby Ellsbury. Low-scoring games weren't the Astros' thing during the season. They scored three runs or fewer in only 57 games, and won only 18 of those. As the postseason lurches forward, as runs become harder to come by, it can only help the Astros' confidence to win the type of game they're not accustomed to winning. "It just how our team is built," Correa said. "We don't need to score eight runs every single game in order for us to win or have a chance to win. Two runs today, Dallas did his part, the bullpen did a great job, the defense was there. That's how you win ballgames." Championships are often won that way, too.
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